NCJ Number
78649
Journal
Monatsschrift fuer Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform Volume: 63 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1980) Pages: 129-140
Date Published
1980
Length
12 pages
Annotation
A study of convictions for tax evasion in the Hamburg court of appeals district in 1977 and 1978 seeks to establish whether the penalties for tax evasion are correlated to the amount of money involved.
Abstract
According to German law, every tax case must be considered separately before penalties can be established; set penalties for tax evasion do not exist. The amount of taxes illegally withheld is considered a critical factor for the determination of guilt and for subsequent sentencing. To establish whether this is indeed the case in practice, records of a study sample of 1,063 tax evaders are examined. Factors considered are limited personal data (i.e., sex, birth date, family status, and profession), characteristics of the tax offense, reasons given for sentences, and the extent of the damage compensation through repayment. A total of 299 sets of records are evaluated thoroughly. The statistical test procedure involves calculating penalties in terms of day rates and months of imprisonment, examining variations in penalties, and plotting the values on x-y axes. The possibility of other factors influencing correlations is excluded. Results indicate that there is a highly significant correlation between the severity of the penalty and the amount of the taxes illegally withheld. The correlation values are higher for prison terms than for fines. Differentiation by types of taxes is of little value in this study as the spread of correlation values cannot be explained and appears to be random. Regression analysis confirms the significance of the correlation values. Notes and tables are supplied.